There are lots of containers to grow seedlings in. Here are a few:
Plastic plant trays, and even individual plastic pots to plant seeds in can be purchased from a variety of places, including on-line sites.
You can even make your own from scraps. Just make sure it is at least two inches deep. A good size would be 12 to 18 inches long (not too long to carry from one place to another) and about a foot wide. Leave some small cracks in the bottom, or drill some holes (1/8 of an inch would do) to allow for drainage.
The list for containers is endless. You can use flower pots and they can be either plastic or clay. You can use old cottage cheese containers, yogurt containers, egg cartons, plastic or wax-coated paper butter and margarine tubs, bottoms of milk cartons, old chicken feeders, pie pans, and just about anything that will hold soil. Remember that seedlings must have good drainage, so make sure that any container you use has holes in the bottom.
Also, make sure that you sterilize the containers. If you want to do it outside, use a clean tub or wheelbarrow, fill it with soap and water and scrub the containers (unless they’re made of material that will dissolve in the water). Then rinse them and refill the tub with water and add about 10 percent bleach. Let them soak in this solution for a half hour to an hour and then dry them in the sun. If the containers are dissolvable (like cardboard egg cartons), you can place them in the microwave for a couple of minutes).
You can also purchase a wide variety of seed strips, pots, compressed peat pods, plastic minipots, and plastic cell packs.
In many instances, you can purchase the containers with the seeds already planted. There are also pellets and blocks made of peat or expandable plastic foam cubes. With many of these, the container is the growing medium, and, instead of having to transplant it, you can simply put the entire container in the ground.
Related Articles:
- Choosing and handling seeds
- Understanding your environment
- Growing Media
- When to plant seeds
- How to Start Seeds
